Nations League League B Group 2: Greece 0 Republic of Ireland 4 (Sheva 49, Carusa 61, Stapleton 74, Barrett 93)
Amber Barrett marked her 50th cap for the Republic of Ireland with the fourth goal in a satisfactory Nations League B victory in Heraklion.
No better way to respond to the 4-0 loss in Slovenia than putting the same number past Greece.
Glass half-full. The current state of the women’s game in Ireland remains under review but second-half substitutes – Barrett, Katie McCabe and Marissa Sheva – ensured that this trip to Crete went according to expectations.
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Sheva scored with her first touches while McCabe’s wizardry created a second for Kyra Carusa to secure all three points ahead of the return fixture at Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday.
“We have to start in a way that we finished this game,” said Ireland manager Carla Ward. “The second half was superb.
“There were natural nerves after Slovenia, they are only human, but they stayed calm.”
An added bonus was Jessie Stapleton showing her importance to the cause when the 20-year-old flicked a McCabe corner beyond Greek goalkeeper Zoi Nasi to make it 3-0.
Job done, but the “hangover” identified by Ward following her players failure to qualify for this summer’s European Championships was initially evident at the Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium.
Sloppy passing by everyone not named Denise O’Sullivan and needlessly aggressive challenges from Leanne Kiernan had Greek defenders celebrating at half-time as if they had kept the contest scoreless for 90 minutes.
Greece had looked comfortable in the warm conditions with Anna Patten blocking Eleni Saich’s early shot and a string of saves by Courtney Brosnan making the 61st-ranked country in the world look like the 26th.
Ireland dropped from 24th on the Fifa charts after the loss to Slovenia in February. That collapse in Koper forced Ward to make four changes with a calf niggle keeping McCabe benched until half-time.
To generate interest in women’s football, the Greek federation provided free admission to the 9,000-capacity ground. Around 450 fans took up the offer. It meant that a collection of frustrated Irish voices could be heard, particularly the captain, who is nursing a knock she sustained during Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final defeat of Real Madrid on March 26th.
“We knew Katie had 45 minutes in her,” Ward explained, “and I didn’t want to start her and potentially take her off. I wanted to go the other way and she made a massive impact. As did Marissa.”
Not fit enough to start, not injured enough to be sent back to north London, McCabe was heard willing a performance from the sideline: “Keep it, keep it!” implored the skipper as Ireland misfired throughout the first half.
“Don’t go, don’t go!” Brosnan kept instructing a frustrated Carusa as the San Diego Wave striker’s instinct was to rush an unsteady Greek goalkeeper.
Instead, Ireland employed a midblock that invited their host’s to pass through them. The tactics were questionable as poor crosses and a lack of control in possession made changes seem inevitable at the interval.
McCabe and Sheva appeared for the second half with Tyler Toland and Megan Campbell making way. Five or six starters could have been replaced.
The Arsenal winger immediately curled a free-kick on to the roof of Nasi’s net but it was Sheva who broke the deadlock when her speculative shot clipped two Greek legs before spinning into the bottom corner.
Depending on perspective, Ward got the starting line-up wrong again or she made three inspirational changes.
The second goal came from McCabe’s dangerous ball into the six-yard box that Carusa finished after Nasi palmed Kiernan’s snap shot across the goalmouth.
Stapleton’s header capped a fine performance from the Sunderland defender and appears to have ended any debate about whether she should start the rest of this campaign.
Barrett also pushed her candidacy to feature ahead of Kiernan or Lucy Quinn with a show of pace down the right and sharp finish in injury-time.
Slovenia’s 3-0 defeat of Turkey leaves them top of the group, and Ireland second, with the end-game set to be a promotion-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on June 3rd.
Greece: Nasi; Palama, Markou (Chamalidou 77), Gkouni (Gkatsou 57); Ntarzanou (Paterna 57), Saich, Sarri, Moraitou (Kakambouki 72), Mitkou; Papatheodorou, Spyridonidou (Kongouli 72).
Ireland: Brosnan; Mannion, Patten, Stapleton, Campbell (McCabe 46); Toland (Sheva 46), O’Sullivan, Littlejohn; Kiernan (Larkin 62), Carusa (Barrett 78), Quinn (Murphy 85).
Referee: Jelena Pejković (Croatia).
